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In this I still have some anger, but you have to find peace with it and know that there's a plan. I think that what has come out of this is my family me and my kids. We're family. We're all we have. We've grown so much closer. We appreciate each other more. We respect life. It can be very short and can change in a Puma Rihanna Fenty Trainer Shoes

Melissa:Initially, when Ean was first diagnosed I think I was very shocked. A lot of just very shocked feelings because you know, you think about other people. You see it on television. About doing fundraisers for kids that have leukemia or you see it on Facebook with somebody in Texas, not somebody next door to you. So, I was just very shocked. I thought, 'Wow.'

Melissa:You know, I wasn't sure how to tell my teenagers exactly what leukemia is, because when you think about leukemia, you think an instant death sentence. All the movies where people are in it, they died from it. So I wasn't really sure how to set my two teenagers down and say, you know, your baby brother has this.

You know, both of my older children sometimes I feel torn because I feel like they need me but then Ean has a doctor's appointment and so I have to be with him. So, I feel torn. learned that one day things can be a certain way, and then the next day your world can be a roller coaster, because that's what I feel like I'm on. Some days, we have really good days, and then other days we have really bad days. We'll get good news at the doctor and then a week later it'll be bad news. Or you know, Ean's counts have dropped, or Ean's running a fever. Everything revolves around how Ean feels now.

When Ean started physically changing, I had a really hard time with it because the steroids he had to take made Ean swell (gestures to neck) really big.

Mike:What does family mean to you?

year old battling leukemia, to feature for his first Living Portrait. This week, he is featuring a portrait and interview with Ean's mother, Melissa Vo, about her experience helping Ean and supporting her family.

Melissa:Ean's been taking chemo since a day after we first found out. He started chemo immediately. Because the type of leukemia he has is very aggressive, it has to be treated as soon as it's found. He's had numerous rounds of port chemo. He's had to be put to sleep numerous times and have LPs, where they inject chemo into the spine.

And then my anger turned into just wanting him to win, you know? Just wanting him to fight and wanting to be there to support him and so the anger left and a lot of peace has come over me. You know, I found peace with it.

moment have met somereallygreat people we never would have met if we weren't on this journey. And I've learned that there's still more good people in the world than there is bad. We only hear about the bad. And if we heard more about the good, I think the world would be a more positive place, because there are a lot of good people in this world, and our family has been touched by those people.

Mike:You've had some really nice things to say about the people that you've come into contact with there

This is the second part of a three part series. This month, the Living Portrait Series is guest hosted by photographer Mike Belleme.

Melissa:Oh, yeah. And you know, people that maybe I haven't talked to every day of my life but have been there. Like my best friend we don't talk every day, or we didn't talk every day because she has her own family and I have my own family, but we always know that we're there for each other. You know, she really came into the picture and stepped up since this has happened. She checks on me daily.

And he went from looking like my child to looking like somebody else's child. physical changes were also the reality that things weren't the same. His hair started to fall out and I became angry because he couldn't walk sometimes because his legs hurt so bad. I was angry because he was having to go through that.

So, we had a child life specialist that came, and I talked to her and she did a little class for them and explained to them exactly what leukemia is and even did a demonstration of what leukemia does to your body. Everything like that. And she really brought it down to their level so that they could understand it, but not be so scared that they just lived in trauma all the time. Without her, I don't think I could have explained it to my kids any better way because I was scared to tell them.

Mike:You've already touched on this a little bit, but tell me about the range of emotions you've felt since getting the diagnosis. Has there been anything positive at all that you've seen come of this?

Melissa:Family's not always blood. Just because you're born into that family doesn't mean that those are the people who are always necessarily gonna be there for you. Family means to me Puma Suede Blue And Gold people who are going to help you when you're at your bottom, when you don't have anything to give back to them.

Mike:What kind of treatments has he undergone and where has he received those treatments?

Mike:So you would say your family has expanded?

He's had to take an oral chemo also, at home. He needed a blood transfusion because his counts dropped too low and made him very weak. He bruises very easily so they give him blood products. And he takes it all at Mission Children's Hospital. So, here in Asheville.

﻿Mike Belleme photographs Melissa Vo

my family for almost 10 years. I worked two jobs to provide for them. So financially everything has changed. Emotionally everything has changed.

Mike:How did you explain to your family what leukemia is and what it meant for your family?

And he's been pretty healthy his whole life. He's my one kid that didn't get a cold or anything like that. And then I think the shock went to anger.

The people I consider my family is the people who've been here for me, and I have nothing to give right now. I'm all washed up. I have nothing else to give. I can't support anybody emotionally. I can't support anybody financially because I have three kids that I'm trying to keep together. So, the people I consider my family are the people who have really been there for us. Not always blood.

Melissa:I couldn't have asked for a better team of doctors, better team of nurses, child life specialists, social workers. You know, some places you go and the teams are good but they've got that one bad person. That's not how it is at Mission Children's. They're all wonderful. You know, they act like we're part of their family.